At least nine dead in India hotel fire: official

A blaze tore through a hotel in New Delhi on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, an official said, in the latest disaster to raise concerns over fire safety in India. The fire broke out before dawn at Hotel Arpit Palace in a congested part of central Delhi. “Nine people are dead including a woman and a child. Three people are injured,” G.C. Misra, the director of Delhi Fire Services, told AFP. Misra said the blaze had been brought under control and that 35 people were rescued by firefighters in an hours-long operation. Local media reports said the woman and the child died as they tried to escape by jumping from a window. Images showed thick smoke and flames billowing out of the top floor of three-storey hotel, popular with budget travellers. Accidental fires are common across India because of poor safety standards and lax enforcement of regulations. In December, six people were killed when a fire engulfed a hospital in Mumbai, the capital of western Maharashtra state. In 2017, 14 people were killed, also in Mumbai, when a huge blaze tore through a popular restaurant.